1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for displaying loom information according to kinds of persons engaged in weaving such as weaving workers, maintenance workers, superintendents and the like.
2. Description of Prior Art
For improvement in weaving efficiency, it is usually done to visually display in an information display unit provided in a loom such as various pieces of information concerning weaving such as information on cloth production volume like a rate of loom operation, a woven length, etc., and information representing actual operating state like a frequency of stoppage, state of getting into trouble, running state of weft, state of warp tension, etc.
The techniques of Japanese Patent Appln. Public Disclosure (KOKAI) Nos. 6-81251 and 5-78954 are known as ones of such displays of information. In these types of displays, items for display are predetermined per kind of persons engaged in weaving, and a worker inputs necessary loom information by using an operation switch to display the information corresponding to the operation switch.
In these techniques, however, since a person engaged in weaving should designate an item to be displayed (item for display) to obtain loom information needed by the person, such a switching operation is troublesome, and such an operation is made every time the person does the round, which shortens the life of the operation switch.
An object of the present invention is to reduce the frequency of operation required for switching to display to the least possible number when a person confirms necessary loom information in the display.
The information display apparatus of a loom, comprising data control means storing at least a plurality of pieces of loom information and capable of outputting the stored loom information, display means for displaying in a screen the loom information to be outputted from said data control means, and distinction means for distinguishing a kind of a person engaged in weaving and outputting a distinction result to said data control means. In the data control means are preset items for display corresponding to the distinction result, and the data control means outputs the loom information concerning the loom information relative to the item for display corresponding to the distinction result.
When a person engaged in weaving approaches the loom, or when a storage medium such as an ID card carried by the person is inserted into the distinction means, a distinction result representing the kind of the person is outputted from the distinction means. Thereby, since the data control means outputs the loom information concerning the item for display corresponding to the distinction result, the loom information corresponding to the item for display is visually displayed in the display means.
Consequently, according to the present invention, there is no need for switching operation of the display unit as heretofore done by hand, so the switching operation of the display unit is omitted. Further, as the frequency of operating the display unit decreases, the life of the operation switch and the like become long that much.
Incidentally, the xe2x80x9cloom informationxe2x80x9d means information necessary for controlling operation of each loom, which can be represented in an identifiable form by specific numerical values, letters and graphs of: for example, (a) a weaving condition of the loom such as set values to be set in a loom controlling device such as a weft insertion device or a warp tension control unit; (b) a weft running state (arrival timing of the weft) into the shed during running of the loom, state of warp tension (actual tension value), actual detection value by a sensor such as a weft detection state (waveform of a feeler signal) by a weft feeler and its signal waveform relative to the time base; further, (c) an actual operating condition state of the loom such as, for example, a numerical value relative to the operating state of the loom like the operation rate of the loom per unit period, frequency of stoppage, woven length (the number of weft insertion picks), etc.; (d) detailed information relative to a history of occurrence of troubles such as the contents and the time and date of failures and troubles; and detailed information relative to a state of practicing a maintenance work such as a date when oiling and cleaning of parts are done.
On the other hand, the xe2x80x9citem for displayxe2x80x9d includes a denomination corresponding to the loom information. Concretely, in the example of displaying the operation rate of the loom, the value of the operation rate calculated over an hour in the past is the xe2x80x9cloom informationxe2x80x9d and the operation rate per hour which is the denomination corresponding to this value of operation rate is the xe2x80x9citem for display.xe2x80x9d
In the foregoing information display unit, the distinction means can include a detected element carried by a person engaged in weaving and representing the kind of the carrier, and a distinction portion for distinguishing the detected element.
The detected element can include a portable transmitter for generating a signal showing the kind of a carrier, and the distinction portion can include a signal receiving circuit for receiving the signal from the portable transmitter, and a discrimination circuit for discriminating the kind of the portable transmitter on the basis of the received signal of the signal receiving circuit.
It is, however, possible to use as the detected element a storage medium in which the kind of the worker is recorded, to read the memory information from the storage medium and to discriminate the kind of the worker in the discrimination circuit on the basis of the read memory information.
It is also possible to utilize as the detected element an appearance of a person engaged in weaving, such as work clothes and a cap, to make the distinction portion detect the color of the clothes of the person by a color sensor, and to discriminate the kind of the person on the basis of the detection result of the color sensor by discrimination circuit.
In the foregoing information display unit, it is possible to prepare a plurality of the detected elements according to the kind of a person for the distinction portion to discriminate the kind of the detected element. In this case, each worker carries the portable transmitter corresponding to the kind of the worker.
In the foregoing information display unit, the distinction means can include a sensor for detecting physical characteristics such as the person""s fingerprints, height, etc., and a distinction circuit for distinguishing the kind of the person from a group of previously registered data.
Another information display apparatus of a loom: comprising data control means storing at least plural pieces of loom information and capable of outputting the stored loom information; display means for displaying in a screen the loom information to be outputted from said data control means; transmission means, in which at least one of items for display is stored, for transmitting the item for display and provided for a person engaged in weaving to carry; and discrimination means for discriminating the item for display upon receipt of a transmission signal from said transmission means. The data control means outputs the loom information relative to the item for display corresponding to the discrimination result by the discrimination means.
In the above mentioned information display unit, when a person carrying the transmission means approaches to the loom, a distinction result representing the kind of the person is outputted from the discrimination means. Since this makes the data control means output the loom information relative to the item for display corresponding to the distinction result, the loom information corresponding to the item for display on the kind of the person is visually displayed in the display means. Accordingly, there is no need for any switching operation of displaying which has been manually done, so that the switching operation can be omitted. Further, the less frequently the operation to the display unit is required, the life operation switch will become longer.
The transmission means can store a plurality of items for display to output any of the items for display selectively, and the discrimination means may be made to discriminate the selected item for display from the received signal.